AMERICAN LEGION PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : Van Nuys Wins Behind Solid Pitching of Igou

Rich Igou is the No. 3 starter on the Van Nuys-Notre Dame pitching staff. He also is the third left-hander, and left-handers tend to behave a bit strangely.

Take, for instance, Igou’s comment in the bullpen as he warmed up for his start in an American Legion District 20 playoff game against Sun Valley on Friday.

Pitching coach John Reilley told Igou to throw a curve.

Igou responded: “For a strike?”

Igou answered every challenge once the game began, and pitched Van Nuys to an 11-3 victory over Sun Valley in an elimination game at Burroughs High.

Top-seeded Van Nuys (23-3) will face Encino-Crespi today at 4:30 p.m. at Burroughs. Van Nuys needs another victory to advance to Sunday’s championship round; Encino-Crespi, 3-0 in the tournament, already has earned a berth in the finals.

Igou (3-1) held Sun Valley to six hits and did not allow an earned run. Just as importantly, he struck out eight and walked one. The rest of the Van Nuys staff has wrestled with its control all summer.

“That’s what I try to do--throw strikes,” said Igou, who will be a junior at Notre Dame High in the fall. “At least, that’s what I try to do.”

Van Nuys battered pitching-thin Sun Valley, scoring in the first five innings to take an 11-3 lead. Third baseman Lou Tapia started Van Nuys off with a jolt, belting a two-run homer in the first off 15-year-old Ruben Cardenas.

Adulfo Rocha, who relieved Cardenas to open the fourth with Van Nuys holding a 5-3 lead, didn’t fare much better. Rocha surrendered five runs in the fourth by first issuing a pair of walks with the bases loaded, then by serving up a three-run double to Glen Carson.

Igou, meanwhile, was cruising. Three Van Nuys errors led to unearned Sun Valley runs in the first, third and fourth, but Igou never gave up the big hit. He was perfect over the final 5 1/3innings.